Hunting on the Edge (338)
Hunting on the 338Edge
Have been testing and putting through a few rounds on targets, steel and goats getting things right with a awesome load worked out shooting the 285gr ELD-M, I was running Berger Elite hunters 300gr but had mixed results in terminal performance with some penciling through. I needed more instant dead before they hit the ground ammo and the 285gr eld sure does that if you don’t mind pelt and meat damage.
Asked a mate if he was keen on a meat hunting trip into spot X but because of the week days he had work commitments. Oh well solo mission again and my trusty hound dog.
5am we left the truck park 45 minutes latter the dog was winding I pulled him off and carried on 5m-10m and looked back up the bank 5 red hinds only 20m away. By mid day we were at our campsite set up tent and set up the 338 Edge for some action. Didn’t take long before spotting hinds 340m- 1300m with most of them bedded down. We needed water so if we do that I might as well shot a delicious yearling hind since they are in the same area. Job done easy 360m shot, we headed over boned it out into ziplock bags and dropped back down into the creek and put the bagged meat in there to stay cold.
During the trip we spent a lot of time glassing seen plenty of deer even 5 fallow deer that aren’t that common in this area, all of the grass everywhere is chewed down, also heaps of goats too for long range practice ( aim small miss small ).
Shoot another deer and spook a couple more on the climb to retrieve the meat was a common experience this trip. In the end we had 6 deer from 360m to out past a K for 5 days on the hill.
The best shot was the last shot on a hind in a group of 6 from our camp, she was ranged at 1046m with a up hill 14 degree inclination from the Geovid HD-B which the same ballistics out to 800m after that you need a APP or a Kestrel ballistics meter. The Kestrel gave me a 27.8 MOA hold and 1 MOA hold for wind, set the bipod on top of some logs to get the rifle elevated enough and dialup the turret, next move the dog around and down the hill a bit and put his Mut Muffs on to save his hearing, go back re-range hind and adjust turret if needed, adjust magnification to max 16 power, now the most important job steady rifle and squeeze the trigger.
Boom then 1.5 seconds latter a solid hit with hair flying of the hinds shoulder. The easy part done, now to find a deer over a km away in amongst trees on the side of a steep hill. I yelled out the the dog to come and said it’s his job now find a hind.
On the way up and over the dog stalked onto a hind 4m away and he was 6m in front of me, with no time to waste and meat on the ground we are in a hurry and spooked it then bolted. On the climb up we spooked another 3 deer, on the sidel across we spooked 4 more yearlings before getting to the downed hind smacked in the exact spot I was aiming at.
First deer 360m
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...edc0ffb2_b.jpg
Fallow below our camp
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...23c49832_b.jpg
savs and coffee for lunch
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4d7700b9_b.jpg
Deer bedded down
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...622c1521_b.jpg
479m hind
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4aaa99b6_b.jpg
Easy shooting, 480m to top of clearings
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2f36d8be_b.jpg
A small scubby 8 pointer 660m
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...90e9f5b9_b.jpg
This Vizsla is pretty soft and doesn’t like the cold.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a46a97d1_b.jpg
1200m to top of pic
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d2d196bc_b.jpg
The long range hunting essentials, I poke the walking stick into the ground and sit the binos on top for steady glassing than free hold.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f75522e6_b.jpg
The dog backed away from the canon wearing his Mut Muffs ready for the shot.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...381f4650_b.jpg[/url]
The 1046m deer it was a relatively easy find thanks to the dog and a quick kill.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d983efe7_b.jpg
Exit wound damage from the 285gr eld-m 338Edge it still had 1860 f/lb energy remaining at that distance.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8d3c063a_b.jpg[/url]
One deer I didn’t post the pics (too graphic) bad shot placement hit the spine destroyed 7 vertebrae, back steaks, ribs etc, half the offal came out the top of the animal. The share energy and damage of this round is truely awesome.
Enjoy the read and pics.
